Boffins at BT's Research Labs have developed a futuristic interface that uses ambient light sequences and sound alerts to notify users of personalised news and information. ... Incoming data such as emails or weather reports generates animated light patterns and sounds from the device. Users can then wave their hand over the front of the interface, prompting it to provide more detailed data using Laureate, BT's text-to-speech software, to read out the information.

Looks like the same general idea as Ambient Devices' products with a few extra dimensions of information and interactivity added in. It's a less attractive object than the Ambient Orb, though the built-in text recognition and hand-waving interface may make it more useful as a source of information.